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The Secret of 
Successful Tailoring 

By EDWARD WATKINS 




NEW YORK 
THE MORSE-BROUGHTON CO. 

Publisher! of L'ART DE LA MODE, "The Fashion AuAorily 






Copyrighted, 1910 

BY 

The Morse-Broughton Co. 
New York 



©CLA265058 

10-- 19.0% I 



mm 



PREFACE 

HIS little handbook is compiled from 
the series of twelve articles on "The 
Secret of Successful Tailoring" 
which were published monthly in 
L'Art de la Mode, concluding in 
the April (1910) number. The author, Mr. Ed- 
ward Watkins, who was formerly with the Mrs. 
Osborn Company, is now recognized as 
one of New York's most distinguished tailors 
and an authority on the art of tailoring and dress- 
making. Mr. Watkins writes from his wide 
experience in a way that gives practical informa- 
tion of inestimable value to the ambitious tailor 
and dressmaker, as well as to the woman who 
makes her own clothes. No new ,or essential 
point on this interesting subject has been over- 
looked, and we believe the chapters present the 
clearest, most accurate and most condensed work 
on the subject ever published. 

While the articles were appearing serially in 
the magazine, readers of L'Art de la Mode were 
encouraged to write personally to Mr. Watkins, 
who cheerfully solved for them any puzzling 
problems. Many of these questions and their 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

answers have been incorporated in this handbook, 
as we believe them to be of general interest to 
those who now study the book for the first time. — 
Editor L'Art de la Mode. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Choice of Material and Design. 7 

11. First Fittings 13 

III. Cutting 19 

IV. Second Fittings 26 

V. Collars, Facings, Sleeves and Lining 34 

VI. Skirt Construction and Finishing. . 42 

VII. Designing 50 

VIII. Lines 61 

IX. Waist Linings 67 

X. Practical Suggestions to Dress- 
makers 74 

XL Furs 79 

XII. Bookkeeping 85 

Questions Answered by Mr. Wat- 
kins 93 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL 
TAILORING 




CHAPTER I. 

THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL AND DESIGN 

|HEN ordering a suit, the first thing 
considered is the material, and to 
this subject the present chapter will 
be mainly devoted. Impress upon 
your customer the importance of 
using the best materials when she is considering 
a tailored suit. 

Here you must depend upon good workman- 
ship, the cut, and material to give the desired ef- 
fect of smartness. 

The average woman thinks a good tailored 
suit should wear longer and give more service 
than she would expect from three gowns, and if 
you remind her that it costs just as much to make 
up a poor material as it does a good one, the 
chances are that she will not hesitate to pay the 
ten or fifteen dollars more you must ask for the 
better suit, especially as she and not you will re- 
ceive the full merchandise value of the addi- 
tional charge. 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

Materials that are obviously cheap are not 
worth the attention of the tailor who desires 
to turn out first-class work. Avoid every suit- 
ing that is not all wool and of the softest kind. 
It may be loosely or closely woven. The cheaper 
suitings are often made in the best designs and 
are most alluring when the difference in price 
is considered, but they contain cotton or a poor 
quality of wool, and although carefully sponged 
and shrunk before cutting they continue to 
shrink each time they go under the iron. Much 
altering is the result and you almost lose confi- 
dence in your own fitting because of the "queer 
puckers" that are so much in evidence and are so 
hard to explain. 

The next thing to be considered is the purpose 
for which your customer intends the suit. 

If for town walking, the rough, mannish 
woolens, plainly tailored, are considered the best 
form. A small amount of braiding, on such a 
suit, is not a breach of good taste, and where your 
customer's wardrobe is limited and a fancy 
tailored suit for afternoon wear is not available 
the braided, plain suit may be used on semi- 
formal occasions where the strictly tailored suit 
would be more or less out of place. For after- 
noon wear, the high finished cloths are most de- 
sirable. 

These later materials lend their glossy sur- 

8 



THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL AND DESIGN 

faces and soft folds most admirably to designs 
that are as elaborate and ornate as the customer's 
tastes and requirements demand. Of course, if 
the suit is elaborate the skirt should be trailing, 
but one sees at present a large number of women 
wearing very fancy and much ornamented coats 
over short skirts. The combination, however, is 
not a happy one, according to the writer's way of 
thinking. 

The design of the contemplated suit should 
next receive consideration. Becomingness, 
rather than prevailing fashions, should influence 
the selection, for no suit or gown that is unbe- 
coming can be smart or stylish. Study the in- 
dividual requirements of your customer, em- 
phasize her good lines and coloring and strive 
to conceal those that are not good. If she de- 
sires something that you know will not be be- 
coming or appropriate, don't hesitate to tell her 
so. Obtain her confidence by demonstrating your 
ability to make her gowns more becoming than 
she has ever had them made before. Guard 
against over-elaboration. Simplicity is much 
more effective and you will find it represents the 
highest development in the tailoring and dress- 
making art. 

Here, in the selection of the design, you will 
find your greatest opportunity for artistic de- 
velopment. 

9 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

Remember the mamifacturers can offer the 
smartest materials, embroideries and designs, but 
they can't offer ''individual" gowns. By this I 
mean gowns that are designed for, or adapted to, 
a given personality. 

That is why your customers pay you more for 
your suits and gowns than they would have to 
pay for a ready-made garment in the shops, and 
if you don't give them more for their money, in 
an artistic way, than they get there, you may be 
assured that it is only a question of timx when 
they will join the ranks of those who buy ready- 
to-wear garments. 

SPONGING. 

The material and design having been selected, 
attention should next be directed toward the care- 
ful shrinking and sponging of the material, for 
if this part of the work is not carefully done 
much trouble results later on in the construction. 
It usually appeals to one as of minor impor- 
tance, but it is not. If the sponging is not prop- 
erly done at the beginning, it is more than 
likely to cause much trouble, not only to the 
tailor, who will have to spend much time mak- 
ing alterations made necessary by the goods 
shrinking while being pressed in the later stages 
of construction, but the customer as well will be 
annoyed by her suit losing its shape if she hap- 

10 



THE CHOICE OF MATERIAL AND DESIGN 

pens to wear it on a damp day or be caught in 
the rain. The shrinking quahties of all kinds of 
goods used in tailor work should positively be 
eliminated before the shears are used. 

Different materials should be treated accord- 
ing to their various needs. Broadcloth should 
be shrunk by steam. On a well padded table, 
the larger the better, spread two thicknesses of 
the cloth and over this lay a thick cotton cloth 
that is quite wet. With a rather hot iron, press 
this wet cloth, forcing the seam down and 
through the broadcloth, and continue this process 
until the cotton cloth or sponge rag is nearly 
dry. Next remove the sponge rag and with 
your iron, which by that time will not be too hot, 
press your broadcloth until it is quite dry, and 
there will be very Httle "shrink" left. 

Cheviots, serges and all worsteds that are 
made without a glossy finish should be shrunk 
by being rolled on a board w^ith a wet cloth be- 
tween the folds. 

Unbleached muslin, a yard wide, makes the 
best shrinking cloth, because it is wide enough to 
extend beyond the edges of the woolen, and all 
parts therefore receive an equal amount of 
moisture. It should remain rolled in the wet 
cloth for about two hours, after which it should 
be pressed until it is dry. Use irons that are 
only moderately hot, for the shrinking will be 

II 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

more complete if the pressing is done slowly. If 
broadcloth is sponged this way the glossy finish 
is much impaired and the beauty lost. Broad- 
cloth does not shrink as much as the average 
woolen; the steam process above described is 
therefore sufficient, but is not effective enough 
for the other suitings. Linens that are intended 
for tub suits should be immersed in water and 
dried in the open air. Repeat this treatment 
two or three times, for linen shrinks more while 
it is drying than when it is in the water. 

Before it is entirely dry, after wetting it for 
the last time, linen should be pressed smooth with 
moderately hot irons. The average linen suiting 
can remain in water overnight without injury. 
While the drying is taking place, care should be 
taken not to have too strong a light on the linen, 
for the best dyes are sometimes damaged if left 
in a very bright light for any length of time. 



12 




CHAPTER II. 

FIRST FITTINGS 

HEN taking measures, stand behind 
and not in front of your customer. 
You will find it much more con- 
venient and comfortable than taking 
measures from the front. And just 
here I cannot refrain from saying a word about 
"systems," for I am sure that at present there 
must be many tailors and dressmakers who are 
not satisfied with the quality of work leaving their 
workrooms, and, in an effort to improve their 
work, are asking themselves, just as I did a few 
years ago, if there is not some system with which 
they can cut garments that will not require alter- 
ations. 

It must always be borne in mind that no mat- 
ter how accurate your system, no two materials 
stretch or work up the same. If your material 
would not "stretch" or "give" any more than 
paper, then it would be a mechanical possibility 
to draft a perfect-fitting pattern, but mathemat- 
ics cannot always make allowances for the dif- 
ferent ways different materials stretch and 
"work up." 

If six coats are cut by one pattern, in various 

1.3 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

textures, no two will require the same alterations. 
That means that no matter how good your pat- 
ern is, there will be a certain amount of fitting 
necessary when the garment is tried on. 

Let your study therefore be devoted to your 
fittings and not to the defects of your "system." 

I know one very successful cutter who does 
not have a stitch in the coat when it is first fitted. 
He cuts the coat by a well-shaped pattern, allow- 
ing about one-inch seams, and with the various 
pieces on his arm goes down to the customer, 
on whom he pins the several parts in about the 
position they should go. After these are placed 
he pins the seams together. If a seam does not 
run in the right slope or direction, it is a small 
task to remove a few pins and re-pin the seam 
where it should be. 

When one-half of the coat is put together in 
this manner, his first fitting is completed, and the 
other side of the coat is made like the first part, 
the canvas or cambric is put in the front of the 
coat, the sleeve is basted in, and when it is next 
put on the customer there are fewer alterations 
necessary than in any garment I ever saw that 
had been cut by a pattern drafted by a "system." 

The reader may think that the cutter I refer to 
is exceptionally expert, and so he is. But he has 
not studied nearly as hard as the tailor who has 
been trying to draft a perfect-fitting pattern for 

14 



FIRST FITTINGS 

each coat he cuts. If you have a ''system" with 
which you can make a well-shaped pattern, 
use it by all means, but let the most of your study 
be devoted to the actual fittings. The following 
method of pattern making and construction, 
which is at present employed in my own 
establishment and is the same I used when I was 
personally doing the cutting and fitting for more 
than half a hundred tailors at the Mrs. Osborn 
Co., is undoubtedly the safer and more economi- 
cal plan. 

The first fitting of a coat should be prepared 
in unbleached drilling, which does not stretch 
and has about the weight of the average suiting. 

Only one-half of the coat is required and it 
should be pinned together and not basted. 

To cut this drilling fitting, a great number of 
measures are not necessary ; in fact none is really 
required if you will give your eye a chance to do 
the work the average cutter requires of his tape- 
line. 

A glance will tell you that your customer is 
about the size and general build of Mrs. A. or 
Mrs. B., whose patterns you have. Better still, 
buy a good pattern from some pattern house 
which is recognized as an authority on lines and 
proportions. Then by this pattern cut your 
drilling fitting, making it a little larger or smaller 
as you think the case may require. The cutting 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

and pinning together can be done in from five 
to ten minutes, and the customer would usually 
rather wait this time for a fitting than come 
again. In my own establishment we keep a 
number of these canvases prepared, in small, 
medium and large sizes, so that when a customer 
places an order we are instantly prepared to give 
the first fitting. This saves a great deal of time 
to both customer and tailor. 

The drilling should now be fitted just as care- 
fully as if you were fitting the coat proper. 
Study the lines, improve them every place you 
can. Try the seams in different positions if 
there is any doubt in your mind as to where 
they should be. Look it over and over again 
until there is nothing you can improve. Study 
to emphasize your customer's best lines and to 
cleverly conceal any that are not so good. Mark 
the size, shape and length of the lapels and fit a 
canvas or crinoline back collar if there is to be 
one. Fit a drilling sleeve, getting the proper 
length and width; in fact, get every line and de- 
tail, at this drilling fitting, that you possibly can, 
for it will save much time later and we all know 
that time is money. 

Next carefully mark with colored chalk the 
position of every pin; the waist line, which you 
have indicated while the pattern was on the cus- 
tomer ; cross marks at the shoulder seam to show 

i6 



FIRST FITTINGS 

the exact place that the front joins the back; 
and the length of the coat. 

In taking the pattern to pieces, remove the 
pins from the shoulder seam first. Spread the 
pattern out so that the armhole lies flat on the 
table. While in this position, mark the armhole, 
the size of which you indicated at the fitting. 

After this remove all pins from the drilling 
and press the pieces flat. Lay one piece at a 
time on a press board, the cloth surface of which 
prevents slipping as would be the case if you at- 
tempted to work on a smooth table, and with 
colored tailor's chalk, the edge of which is 
sharpened, draw a line through the row of dots 
you made where the pins were. 

When this has been done to all the various 
parts, the pattern should be trimmed, cutting ex- 
actly in the marks you have made so that the 
edges of the pattern have no seams allowed. 

The above described process will give you a 
pattern that no "system" can equal, for the lines 
have been taken from the person who is to wear 
the garment, and not from a square, chart or tape 
line. 

You can readily see how naturally you are 
making "individual" garments, and as I said in 
the last chapter, this is what you must do if you 
desire to protect your trade from the temptations 
of the manufacturer of ready-to-wear clothes. 

17 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

First fittings for skirts should be done in the 
same manner that I have described for coats, 
only instead of using drilling, cambric, which 
costs less, may be employed. 

With a little practice, you can hang a cambric, 
take up the darts, mark the waist line and get 
the length to the floor by simply marking with a 
lead pencil, all in less than five minutes and the 
alterations necessary when the skirt is tried on 
should be very trifling. Don't try to get the 
length of a walking skirt at the first fitting. 
When the belt is basted on at the second fitting, 
and is not to come off or be disturbed any more, 
then the length may be taken in a manner that 
will be described in the next chapter. 



iS 




CHAPTER III. 

CUTTING 

UTTING is the next logical subject 
to discuss, and to this subject the 
present chapter is devoted. In lay- 
ing the patterns on the cloth or other 
material that is to be cut, much care 
is required to get each piece on the proper "grain" 
of the goods. If the coat is to have all the cus- 
tomary seams, the back and underarm pieces 
should be cut with the straight of the goods run- 
ning through the center, so that each edge is 
slightly bias. 

The next two pieces, which form the fronts of 
the coat, should be cut so that the cross grain of 
the material has a decided downward slope, as 
indicated in the illustration on page 20. If your 
goods is cut on this grain, and is otherwise prop- 
erly fitted, the fronts will not fall open when the 
coat is unbuttoned. 

That is one of the best tests you can make. 
How many coats have you ever seen that would 
not fall apart when they were unbuttoned? 

It can be prevented by cutting as I have 
described. But this is not the only advantage 

19 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 




gained, for you will find, especially in checked or 
striped goods, that the lines are vastly improved. 



20 



CUTTING 

The figure is, in effect, tilted forward, while the 
opposite tendency is noticeable when the front of 
the coat is cut on a straight edge of the goods. 
What is true of the coat is also true of the skirt. 
Take, for instance, a five-piece skirt (which is 
one of the very best for walking models and may 
be varied in detail in a hundred different ways). 
The proper and customary way to cut the front 
and back gores would be with the straight of the 
goods through the center of the gore, but what a 
world of difference may be produced by the man- 
ner in which the side piece is cut. 

If the straight of the goods is put to the front, 
and there joins the front gore, the side piece 
must naturally be bias at the back, with the result 
that the skirt falls to the front, giving an ugly 
flare at the sides and a most unbecoming "skimpi- 
ness" or lack of fulness at the bottom of the 
back; it makes the wearer look as if she were 
standing very badly, and the longer it is worn 
the worse it will look. 

If the straight of the goods is put through the 
center of the piece, an improvement is at once 
noticeable, but it is far from being satisfactory 
yet. 

But if the straight of the goods is put to the 
back, joining the back gore, and with the bias 
joining the front piece, the effect is almost mag- 
ical. 

21 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

The woman with large hips looks slender, and 
she has a * 'poise" that could not have been ob- 
tained in another shaped skirt. From this it must 
not be inferred that the slight girl would appear 
at a disadvantage if she wore the same shaped 
skirt, for there is a principle involved, and it 
applies in general in the cutting of both coats and 
skirts, and to all sorts of figures. 

An ordinary gored skirt is much improved if 
the cross grain of the goods runs slightly down 
toward the front. Both edges of the gores 
should be slightly bias, but the front edge should 
be a little more so than the back. Sleeves, for a 
plain tailored coat, should be cut on the same 
principle — that is, so that the cross grain runs 
down slightly toward the front. 

A very economical method of estimating the 
amount of material required for a suit or gown 
is possible when the canvas and cambric fittings 
are used, for after the patterns have been pre- 
pared, a "layout" may be made (on the floor if 
your table is not large enough), care being taken 
to keep the patterns confined to a space that is 
the width of the goods to be cut. In this way 
you can ascertain the exact quantity of material 
required and not have to "guess" you need so 
many yards "but to be on the safe side, I think 
I will get an extra yard." 

These "extra" yards, in the course of a season. 



CUTTING 

amount to a considerable sum; certainly much 
more than enough to pay for all the cambric and 
drilling that you have used in the preliminary 
fittings. The garments having been cut, allow- 
ing about a three-quarter inch seam, the edges of 
the pattern should be carefully marked with 
tailor's chalk (and the edges of the chalk should 
be kept sharp in order to make a clean, sharp 
line), after which the pattern may be removed 
from the goods. "Thread marking" is the next 
process, which is done by laying the two pieces 
flat on the table (I say "two pieces," for, of 
course, the material was cut on the double), and 
with double basting thread take deep, .clean 
stitches directly on the chalk line and about a 
quarter of an inch apart. Instead of drawing 
the thread tight, each stitch should be left loose, 
so that it will make a little arch about a quarter 
of an inch high. 

After this, the edges of the two pieces should 
be most carefully pulled apart as far as the loose 
stitches will permit ; then, with your shears lying 
between the two layers of material, cut the 
threads in the middle. These ends are then 
trimmed off, close to the goods, and the garment 
is ready to be put together, for, of course, the 
object of "thread marking" is to get an exact 
duplicate of the lines of the pattern on both 
pieces of material. Another method, somewhat 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

quicker, but not at all in favor with first-class 
tailors, is to turn the pattern over and mark the 
second piece with chalk just as the first piece was 
marked. 

The coat is then put together by the chalk 
marks instead of the thread marks. Personally, 
I think this way all right where the lines are long 
and loose as they would be in an evening wrap, 
but for accuracy the thread marking is the most 
reliable. 

When basting a coat together, start at the 
waist line and baste down. Then come back to 
the waist line and baste up. When stitching, sew 
down one seam and up the next. That is, one 
seam should be stitched down and the corre- 
sponding seam on the opposite side of the coat 
should be stitched up, the object being to prevent 
the possibility of a twist in the coat, which you 
will be glad to avoid if it has ever been your 
misfortune to encounter such trouble. After the 
stitching is done, remove the basting threads and 
press the seams open. 

If it is desired to keep the coat very soft, use 
cambric instead of canvas for the fronts of the 
coat. In either case, cut the cambric or canvas 
on the same grain of the goods as the outside 
part is cut, or a trifle more bias is sometimes 
desirable. 

This cambric or canvas should be searned up 

24 



CUTTING 

separately from the outside, the seams pressed 
open, after which it is ready to baste in the out- 
side part of the coat. 

When this is done, the coat is ready for a fit- 
ting. Exactly the same processes I have de- 
scribed for coats should be followed in the mak- 
ing of a tailored skirt. Very few walking skirts 
have any lining; sometimes a silk drop skirt, en- 
tirely separate from the outside, is made to go 
with the suit, while some of the recent importa- 
tions show a lining made in the skirt. In this 
latter case, the outside part of the skirt is seamed 
up entirely separate from the lining, after which 
the lining is fitted in and felled just as you would 
put in the coat lining. 

This sort of lining in a skirt is highly desirable 
when the skirt is a plain or gored one, but it does 
not give such satisfaction when the skirt has 
plaits, for the lining would prevent the plaits 
from lying in close, sharp folds if i]t was put in 
every plait. While the skirts intended for walk- 
ing purposes have been very plain for the past 
season or two, the newer models show a decided 
tendency toward plaits. 



25 




CHAPTER IV. 

SECOND FITTINGS. 

HEN the coat is tried on the cus- 
tomer for the second time, the front 
edge should be turned in and basted ; 
the bottom should be turned up and 
basted ; all seams, except the under- 
arm and shoulder, should be stitched ; a bias piece 
of thin, loosely woven, French canvas should be 
in readiness for the collar fitting; the seams of 
the sleeves should be stitched, gathered at the 
top, and properly turned up at the bottom, but 
not basted in the coat, and you should have a 
feeling, born of the painstaking effect you 
should have put in the former fitting, that there 
will be very little alteration required. 

Having put the coat on the customer, allow the 
fronts to lap in a comfortable and easy manner, 
and pin them in this position. The material of the 
coat, being usually of a looser weave than the 
cambric or drilling pattern which you fitted, 
stretches a small amount, and the fronts of the 
coat, consequently, may not lie as close to the 
figure as they should. If such is the case, open 
the shoulder seam and move the front of the 

26 



SECOND FITTINGS 

coat closely to the figure, after which pin your 
shoulder seams together. It is well to fit both 
shoulders at this fitting, care being taken that 
the two fronts join the back of the coat at the 
shoulder seam in relatively the same position, 
for the shoulders of the average person are 
slightly different. One shoulder may be higher 
than the other, or the shoulder joint may be 
placed farther front on one side of the body 
than on the other, but in either case it is best to 
fit both shoulders in order to have the coat drop 
squarely from the shoulders or "balance" 
properly, as many tailors refer to the matter. 

If your customer has very sloping shoulders, 
or is round-shouldered or stooped, do not at- 
tempt to fit the coat too closely around the arm.- 
hole, but rather leave it loose, and build it out 
with several layers of cotton wadding basted to- 
gether. This pad is to be sewn in the coat before 
the lining goes in. 

This will greatly improve the appearance of 
the shoulders, making them look less sloping, 
and the person with the round back is made to 
look more erect. 

The same principle holds good in fitting the 
front of the coat. If your customer is hollow 
in front of the arm, instead of fitting the coat 
closely, leave it a bit loose, so that the line from 
the shoulder to the bust is straight. 

27 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

Then if there is too much fulness, build it up 
with wadding. It is often desirable when 
planning for wadding to experiment a little in 
an endeavor to ascertain what the finished ef- 
fect will be, and a bit of crumpled tissue paper 
placed inside the coat where the wadding is to 
be used, will show both the customer and the 
fitter what result the padding will produce. The 
armhole of the coat should receive your most 
careful attention. It should be just as small as 
the customer can comfortably wear it, especially 
when the sleeve is to be small, for you cannot 
make a small sleeve look well if the armhole is 
too large. 

A small armhole also gives greater freedom 
of the arm, for it is obvious that if the armhole 
is cut out too much, the sleeve will drag the 
coat upward when the arm is raised. The coat 
should be a little higher at the back of the arm- 
hole than it is in the front, and keeping the coat 
high in the back will greatly assist you in fitting 
a sleeve that will permit the wearer to bend her 
arm and move forward her elbow without an un- 
comfortable drag in the back where the sleeve 
joins the coat. 

The "gentleman's" collar, regarded by the 
average tailor and dressmaker as the most 
difficult part of the coat to make, is very easily 



SECOND FITTINGS 

put together and fitted, if a few principles 
governing its shaping are understood. 

Start with a piece of thin canvas about five 
inches wide and nine inches long, cut on a true 
bias, as indicated in Fig. i. 



FIG. I 




FI&.2 




(Right here I think it well to tell you that 
every coat should have an individual collar pat- 
tern fitted to it. Many tailors and dressmakers 
try to use the same pattern on different coats, 
and that is the beginning of many of their 
troubles with back collars. After you have fitted 
a few collar patterns, according to the directions 
here given, you will find that the making and 
fitting of the entire pattern will not consume 
more than two or three minutes.) 

Next fold your canvas on a line that runs 
like the dotted line C C, Fig. i. The edge A is 
to become the under or standing part of the 



29 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

collar, while B is the turnover part. Stretch 
the edges A and B all that the canvas will per- 
mit. Your canvas will then look like the draw- 
ing in Fig. 2. Next, starting at the center of 
the back, pin the canvas to the neck line of the 
coat as indicated in Fig. 3. 



FIG 3 



FIG. ^ 





The folded line of the canvas should run 
downward, so that if it were continued it would 
form the line on which the lapel of your coat 
turns over. Having pinned the canvas to the 
coat as indicated in Fig. 3, turn the collar and 
lapei over as shown in Fig. 4. If the collar 
seems too tight, turn it up again and raise or 
lower the forward part of the canvas (D in 
Fig. 3) as the case may require. After you 
have found the place it fits best, mark, with a 
piece of tailor's chalk or pencil, the line E E, 
Fig. 4, or any other desired shape. The line 



30 



SECOND FITTINGS 

F F, Fig. 4, is the surplus goods which is to be 
cut away, leaving sufficient quantity for seam. 

Mark the center of the back of the collar, 
being careful to have the line straight up and 
down. It is this seam that largely affects the 
set of the collar at the back of the neck, making 
it lie close to the neck or otherwise. 

Next, trim your canvas in the line E, after 
which the edge may be stretched a little more. 
The pattern should now fit perfectly, and if you 
will follow this method, making a pattern for 
each coat, and fitting it on the customer, I think I 
can assure you that in the future you will take 
pleasure in this part of your coat construction 
instead of regarding it with dread. After the 
fitting, and before the canvas is removed from 
the coat, carefully outline where the edge of 
the collar pattern joins the coat, so that after 
you have made the collar it can be attached to 
the coat in the same position the pattern held. 
The canvas you have fitted is the pattern only, 
and is not to be used in the collar proper. Pre- 
pare this collar proper by cutting two pieces of 
canvas exactly the shape and grain of your pat- 
tern, joining the two with a seam in the center 
of the back; likewise cut two pieces of the coat 
material, on the same grain of the goods, join 
them with a seam in the back, after which baste 
the canvas and material together. 

31 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

These two thicknesses should next be 
"padded." "Padding" in this case means the 
sewing together of the canvas and the cloth 
with stitches that are so fine as to be perfectly 
invisible on the cloth side. 




L 

The object of this "padding" is to make the 
underneath part of the collar lie close to the 
canvas. 

When the "padding" is finished, your collar 
will be flat and look something Hke Fig. 6. 

The line H H, Fig. 5, should be marked with 
colored thread, so that there will be no chance of 
confusing it with other or basting threads. 








The edges K and L should now be dampened 
and stretched with the aid of a hot iron, and the 
collar doubled, with the canvas side outside, and 
pressed flat so that it will look like Fig. 6. 

It is well to keep the edge K, Fig. 5, stretched 
a little more than seems necessary, for the finish- 
ing and stitching of the edge of the collar al- 

32 



SECOND FITTINGS 

ways draws in the edge some, and if this is not 
allowed for, the outer edge of the collar will 
be too tight when finished, producing an uncom- 
fortable draw on the customer's neck and un- 
sightly wrinkles. 

In sewing the collar to the coat, the seam 
should be pressed open. The coat is often per- 
mitted to run up under the collar, but this is 
not correct, for when the collar facing has been 
attached, there will be a thick ridge where the 
collar joins the coat, and it is very apt to be un- 
comfortable to the wearer. 

Don't think that the lines of the collar pattern 
you make must be exactly like those of the 
sketches shown with this chapter, for while these 
sketches were made from an actual coat in 
course of construction, you will find, as I said 
before, that each pattern will be a little different. 

The subject of the second fittings will be con- 
tinued in the next chapter, with illustrations in- 
dicating the manner in which the facings and the 
top of the back collar are finished. 



63 




CHAPTER V. 

COLLARS, FACINGS, SLEEVES AND LINING 

iONTINUING our consideration of 
back collars and facings, let us ex- 
amine Fig. I (page 35), which 
shows a coat turned inside out be- 
fore the facings have been placed. 
CCC is cambric or canvas as may be desired; 
the line DD is a seam in the cambric, which 
should be cut by the same pattern used in cutting 
the outside or cloth part of the coat. This cam- 
bric or canvas should not be seamed up with 
the goods. The seam of the goods should be put 
directly over that of the cambric and sewn there. 
The piece of shaped cambric around the armhole 
is most important, as it keeps the armhole from 
stretching. 

The line BB is where the collar and rever turn 
over. Note the manner in which the collar and 
rever are "padded," as described in the preced- 
ing chapter. The standing part of the collar may 
be done on the machine to make it a little more 
rigid than hand ''padding." 

When the back undercollar has been attached 
to the coat, as described in chapter four, the 

34 



COLLARS, FACINGS, SLEEVES AND LINING 



coat is ready for the facings. Before these are 
actually put in place, however, a narrow piece of 
very thin tape (the selvage from ordinary five- 
cent cambric, cut about one-quarter of an inch 




Fig. 1 

wide, makes a good substitute) is sewn along the 
front edge of the coat as shown in Fig. i. The 
object of this tape is to prevent the front edge of 
the coat from stretching and getting out of shape 
after the garment has had some wear, and it is 

35 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

also used to hold in any unnecessary fulness that 
may be found on the front edge of the coat over 
the fullest part of the bust. Another tape is 
sewn on the line on which the rever turns over, 
and a little fulness may also be held in by this 
tape if the coat does not lie close enough to the 
chest, but the better way is to dispose of such 
fulness at the fittings so that when you come to 
place the tapes you will not have to depend upon 
them to remedy the defects of your fittings. The 
edges of these tapes should be firmly sewn to the 
canvas or cambric (care being taken that the 
stitches do not show on the right side of the 
coat), after which press and carefully inspect 
your work, being sure that all thread knots and 
wrinkles are removed so that the facings will 
have a smooth surface against which to lie. 

The coat facing is next basted to the outside 
or top of the coat, with the right side of the 
facing next to the right side of the coat. Baste 
the edges firmly, so that when the facing is 
stitched the different materials will not creep 
and pucker under the machine. 

The tape in the front of the coat should have 
been placed so accurately that the edge may be 
followed when stitching, which should be done 
from the bottom of the coat to the point A, 
Fig. I. 

After trimming the edges, press the seam open 

36 



COLLARS, FACINGS, SLEEVES AND LINING 

and turn the facing into its proper position, again 
basting the edges firmly before doing the outside 
stitching. 

Beyond the point A the facing should be 
turned in by hand and left basted until the collar 
facing has been attached. Good and thorough 
basting is one of the things you must depend on 
for **that smartly tailored effect" so deserving of 
admiration in first-class work and so hard for be- 
ginners or indifferent workers to obtain. 

I should estimate that the proper basting of an 
ordinary coat requires about twenty hours' work, 
while the actual machine stitching does not con- 
sume more than one hour. 

From this ratio you will understand how im- 
portant a good workman considers the basting. 

The dressmaker who uses a milliner's needle 
(which is very long), and takes large, loose 
stitches when basting tailored work, must not be 
surprised if her customers complain that her fin- 
ished coat or skirt does not look as if' it had been 
"made by a man." 

And when such criticism reaches her ears, she 
should not be discouraged into believing that 
serious study and honest effort cannot remedy 
this defect, for I have often seen coats, made 
entirely by women, that were the equal in every 
way of the best work done by men. But one 
does not hear much about these workers for the 

37 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

simple reason that there are always dozens of 
permanent positions waiting for the expert 
tailoress, or else she speedily builds up a profit- 
able business of her own. 




Fig. 2 



If, however, she discards her long needle for 
a short one (they are called ''betweens" or tail- 
or's needles), with which she can take deep, 
firm stitches, close together, she will find that 
the goods is held so firmly while the machine 

38 



COLLARS, FACINGS, SLEEVES AND LINING 

stitching is being done that the improvement will 
be noticeable to even an untrained eye, and she 
will have left behind one of the earmarks of the 
dressmaker's coat. 

Therefore, dont slight your basting. 

The facing should be ample in width so that 
when the coat is worn open the lining is well 
back from the front and shows only when the 
coat is out of its proper position. The inside 
edge of the facing should be caught to the cam- 
bric or canvas. 

The collar facing is next cut by the same pat- 
tern that was used in preparing the undercollar. 
The edges should be stretched in the same man- 
ner, after which it is basted to the undier part of 
the collar, the seam stitched, pressed open and 
turned into its proper position just as the coat 
facings were turned. When stitching the edge 
of the collar, keep it stretched as it passes under 
the machine, otherwise it is likely to be drawn in 
and the shape ruined. Where the collar facing 
meets the coat facing (S, Fig. 2) the edge of 
each should be turned under and the two blind- 
stitched together. 

To properly put together a coat sleeve proceed 
as follows : the front part of the top sleeve 
piece should be stretched along its entire length 
so that when it is stitched to the under part the 
sleeve will lie flat on the table with the seam 

39 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

about three-quarters of an inch from the front 
edge of the sleeve. 

The object is, of course, to make the seam less 
visible when the sleeve is on the arm. When the 
back seam is properly put together, the sleeve 
will lie flat on the table, and before the stitching 
is done the sleeve should be put to this test. In 
cutting the sleeve, keep the back part of the 
under piece very high, for this will prevent that 
uncomfortable drag so often found in women's 
coats when the arm is moved forward. As I 
cautioned in a former chapter, keep the body 
part of the coat, to which the back of the sleeve 
is sewn, very high also. 

The bottom of the sleeve is finished by turning 
it over a piece of bias cambric, which is first 
blind-stitched to the sleeve proper. 

If the top part of the sleeve has more fulness 
than can be shrunk out, gathers are to be pre- 
ferred rather than plaits. If you desire to put 
the sleeve in without fulness, after the manner 
in which a man's coat sleeve is placed, gather the 
top slightly and press the fulness out ; then draw 
the gathering thread a little tighter and again 
press out the fulness, continuing this process 
until the sleeve has the proper roundness at the 
top. 

After this kind of a sleeve has been stitched 
in the coat, the seam should be pressed open and 

40 



COLLARS, FACINGS, SLEEVES AND LINING 

a little wadding placed under the seam. Do not 
attempt these plain sleeves unless the coat is cut 
amply wide on the shoulders, and, being wide, 
the wadding is necessary to keep the shoulder 
from having a drooped effect that is most un- 
desirable in a tailored coat. Loose woven ma- 
terials lend themselves better to plain sleeves 
than tighter weaves, such as broadcloths, etc. In 
this latter material it is very hard to make a per- 
fectly plain sleeve, and fine gathers are safer and 
better looking. The coat lining should be basted 
in one piece at a time, holding it a little full both 
crossways and' up and down. Another method 
is to stitch two or three seams in the back, tack- 
ing them to the seams of the coat; stitch and 
tack the dart seams in like manner, which will 
leave only the underarm piece to be felled in by 
hand. This is a little quicker than felling the 
entire lining, and the results are just as satis- 
factory, but more skill is required to do it prop- 
erly. 

In either case, the seams of the lining should 
be tacked to those of the coat. Don't overlook 
the value of lead weights, which should be cov- 
ered with cambric, and sewn in the bottom of 
the coat, as far down as will permit them being 
covered by the lining. 

These weights are also used to advantage in 
all kinds of linen or silk coats that are unlined. 




CHAPTER VI. 

SKIRT CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING 

|0 obtain best results from the fol- 
lowing suggestions on skirt con- 
struction, it will be to the reader's 
advantage to refer to Chapter 2, 
where first or cambric skirt fittings 
were given consideration, and to Chapter 3, in 
which the proper grain on which to cut the ma- 
terial was discussed. 

Do not attempt to turn up the bottom of the 
skirt evenly until the band is pinned or basted 
where it is to remain, or, in fact, as long as there 
is any fitting or changes to be made on the upper 
part of the skirt. When the top part is in a sat- 
isfactory condition (which should be at the sec- 
ond fitting) and no further changes are to be 
made that will in any way affect the bottom of 
the skirt, the following method will insure you 
a skirt that is perfectly even around the bottom 
(providing you skillfully follow these directions), 
regardless of any difference there may be in the 
size of your customer's hips. 

First make sure that the band is pinned to the 
proper tightness and then request your customer 

42 



SKIRT CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING 

to stand with heels together, and insist that she 
maintain this position during the entire time you 
are taking the length, for if the feet are ever so 
little distance apart, more weight will uncon- 
sciously be placed upon one foot than the other, 
and as every movement of the body affects the 
length of the skirt, the result will be a very un- 
even line around the bottom. The customer 
should maintain her natural position in standing. 
Next, with the aid of a small box, card or 
block, which should rest on the floor (the block 
is the better on account of its weight), put a row 
of pins around the bottom of the skirt the height 
of the block from the floor. Be sure the block 
rests directly under where the skirt will naturally 
fall or hang and keep the block about the same 
distance from the feet, for it is obvious that the 
pins will not be the same distance from the floor 
if one is placed when the block is near the feet 
and the next when the block is further removed. 
It is well to have the skirt roughly basted up at 
the bottom before attempting the accurate length, 
for if the line is taken when the hem is resting on 
the floor, the skirt will not drop or stretch as 
much as it does when it swings clear, and if it 
drops after the line has been taken, of course 
the line becomes inaccurate. The block I have 
suggested using in taking the skirt length may 
be sawed from a piece of hard wood or cut from 

43 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

marble, and should be in size about two inches 
thick, three inches wide and four inches long. 

A good block may be made by taking a pin 
box and filling it with plaster of Paris. 

When the plaster has hardened, the pasteboard 
may be broken away, leaving a nice block the 
size of the box, the inside of which should have 
been oiled with salad oil to prevent the plaster 
from sticking to the pasteboard. As the block 
may be used when lying on any one of its sides, 
three different lengths are available. Of course, 
it is not necessary to turn the skirt up exactly 
in the line of pins. Suppose that after having 
taken a line three inches from the floor it is 
decided the skirt should be a half-inch longer, 
instead of taking a new line you would simply 
measure down a half-inch from each pin and 
your line would not be affected in the least de- 
gree, and measuring up from the pins is just as 
simple if the skirt is desired shorter than the pins. 

I have tried most of the patent devices now 
on the market that are made for taking an even 
length on the skirt, but none has given me such 
satisfaction as the simple method I have de- 
scribed. Of course, the above suggestions apply 
to walking-length skirts. 

The length of long skirts is obtained by putting 
the fitted lining on a form, over which the 
outside is draped and the length turned up to the 



SKIRT CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING 

length of the Hning. If the skirt is not to have a 
Hning, it is cut, fitted and finished just as you 
would fit a lining. 

POCKETS 

In the making of a flap pocket, the flap is first 
made, lined and finished on all sides except 




the one that is to be attached to the garment, 
which is left raw edge. With the garment on a 
figure, pin the flap in the position that seems best. 
The garment should be on a figure or on your 

45 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

customer when the position of the pocket is 
decided upon, for this precaution will prevent 
poorly placed pockets and requires very little 
time to accomplish. A very good way is to pin 




the flaps in position at the fitting, so that the 
customer may help decide. This may seem like 
a ''detail" that is beneath being called to the 
attention of the customer, but remember people 
have their clothes made to order because they 
are particular about ''details" and confidence is 

46 



SKIRT CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING 

inspired by your close attention to "details." 
Having pinned the flap in position, the line AA 
is marked with thread or chalk before the flap 
is removed, as shown in Fig. i. 

In Fig. 2 the flap is shown basted on the line 
AA upside down. After stitching the flap to 
the coat on the line AA, the pocket hole BB is 
cut close to the stitching and the flap turned 
down in its proper position, the seam being al- 
lowed to turn upward, in which position it is 
basted. The back of the pocket proper is now 
basted so that when the top of the flap is stitched 
on the outside the pocket lining will also be held. 
A piece of the material, on the same grain of 
the goods as the front, is now stitched on the 
lower edge of the cut BB and turned into the 
pocket opening, enough of the piece being al- 
lowed to extend upward to fill in the space that 
has been caused by the turning away of the two 
seams. The front part of the pocket lining is 
now basted in position and a line of stitching 
running parallel with, and a little below the line 
BB, secures the pocket lining and makes the edge 
of the pocket firm at the same time. The two 
pieces of pocket lining are now sewn together, 
forming the pocket. 

A firm tack, about a quarter of an inch long, 
is placed at either end of the pocket slit to pre- 
vent tearing. A close study of the pockets in a 

47 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

man's coat will undoubtedly be beneficial if there 
is any doubt in your mind as to how any detail 
is worked out. 

FINISHING 

Linen and unlined silk coats may be beauti- 
fully finished by turning the seams to the out- 
side, where each raw edge is turned over under 
itself, forming a narrow straplike trimming. 
When both edges of a seam have been thus 
turned and stitched, the seam appears to have 
been strapped and stitched three times, but, of 
course, what appears to be the center line of 
stitching is in reality the seam. The inside of the 
coat is perfectly free from bound seams or other 
finishing, and presents the appearance of a 
beautifully lined coat. 

The bottom of the coat may be turned up and 
finished in the same manner. Where the coat is 
so treated, the skirt should be built in the same 
manner, and if you have never tried finishing 
seams in this manner you will admire the clean, 
neat appearance your work presents when this 
method is employed. 



Skirt braids should be shrunk before using. 



The best press cushion is made by cutting up 
clean woolen rags and stuffing them into a bag 
made of drilling or canvas. The finer the pieces 

48 



SKIRT CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHING 

are cut the better will be the pad, but they should 
be no wider than a half-inch and not longer than 
an inch. 

Use the lightest colored woolens you have, 
scraps of white serge and broadcloth being best. 
Stuff the pad until it is very solid, after which 
soak it in clean water overnight and with a hot 
iron flatten it a little. The pad should be about 
the shape of an egg, only flattened, and the size 
should be about fourteen inches long and eight 
wide. The thickness is usually three and one- 
half or four inches. If dark woolen pieces are 
used for the filling, coloring matter sometimes 
works out and damages the article being pressed. 
A pad will be found very convenient "in pressing 
every garment, as it fits into sleeve holes, curves, 
etc. 

A smaller pad, built in the same manner, is 
highly desirable in pressing cuflfs, the pad being 
just large enough to slip inside the average 
sleeve. 



49 




CHAPTER VII. 

DESIGNING. 

AVE you ever asked why the French 
excel all other nations in designing? 
Of course you have; but have you 
ever had a satisfactory answer? It 
is doubtful. We may tell each other 
that a long experience and a natural talent for the 
work have placed the French in the lead; that 
they have excelled so long that the balance of 
the world is now prejudiced in their favor, but 
that line of reasoning is not entirely satisfactory, 
even if it is quite true as far as it goes, for we 
all know that opportunity and talent are not all 
that is required to make a success — it takes ef- 
fort and study in addition. 

But, you say, there are no models going into 
Paris, so what do they study? Before consider- 
ing further, let us realize one or two important 
facts: First, that human beings do not create; 
that is left to a higher power. Second, that in 
our best efforts we only adopt or adapt. If you 
copy, you are adopting. If you take an idea and 
change it to suit your requirements, you are 
adapting. 

SO 



DESIGNING 

A beautiful gown is often referred to as a 
''creation," and, while it is a pretty and compli- 
mentary term, it is unmerited and apt to be mis- 
leading to the lay mind. The gown in reality is 
only a clever adaptation of ideas that were copied 
from or inspired by the greatest of all designers. 
Nature, and it is her ''models" and art works 
that we must study if we desire to surpass in 
anything where colors are employed. Color is 
Nature's favorite child; form takes second place 
in her affections, but a perfect combination of 
both are visible in everything produced by her 
wonderful creative powers. She blends and har- 
monizes her colors with unerring skill and ac- 
cording to laws that are as fixed as those of the 
solar system. Furthermore, Nature has fur- 
nished us not only color laws, but somewhere 
in the sky, earth or sea she has given us a con- 
crete example of every combination of color that 
is possible under those laws. What an unlimited 
source of inspiration is open by this thought! 
Remember that Nature makes no mistakes in 
her color schemes and combinations — they will 
all stand the test of strictest investigation. 

One of the first of the great Parisian dress- 
makers (I have forgotten which) studied sun- 
sets the world over and won fame and fortune 
from the "daring" combinations he assembled. 
He was original in his adaptations, and that is 

SI 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

what we should try to be. The original Redfern 
confined his studies to flowers and copied their 
combinations in his gowns. 

Chevreul, who was director of the dye works 
of the Gobelins for many years, said that ''color 
is music to the eye," and he used the terms 
"tones" and "scales" so often in referring to 
colors that we still employ them. 

Those "Frenchy" effects, which is the way we 
refer to any unusual and pleasing color scheme 
emanating from Paris, are only most careful 
copies of Nature. The mole and taupe shades 
that have been so much in vogue of recent sea- 
sons were inspired not only by the silky fur of 
the little animal, but by the lichens that can be 
found all over our country on dead and dying 
wood, and to relieve the somberness of their 
hues, Nature often adds a touch of color that 
would be a valuable suggestion to any progres- 
sive tailor or dressmaker. 

It is said that a piece of moss, beautiful in 
color and smooth of surface, so appealed to the 
artistic eye of a weaver that he tried to repro- 
duce the effect upon his loom — velvet was the 
result. 

The first spangles were fish scales, and fur- 
nished the idea for the hundreds of kinds now 
in use. But don't fancy all the suggestions 
Nature has to offer have been made use of. A 

52 



DESIGNING 

walk through the woods on a summer's day will 
show you more color hints than an ordinary 
establishment could use in a year. How many 
of us grasp the opportunity? Instead, we kneel, 
like the slaves that we are, to the whims and 
fancies of our Parisian masters. We seek our 
inspiration second-hand; from the result of 
other people's thought; from the result of other 
people's imagination; from the result of other 
people's effort. , 

It is not in keeping with the progress of other 
branches of art and science, for dressmaking is 
both. It is conceded that designing gowns is 
an art; certainly the construction requires con- 
siderable scientific knowledge. 

What hope is there for us, as a nation, of 
being anything but "copyists" as long as we 
work in this manner? 

The value of Nature's suggestions in form 
are hardly surpassed by those of color. How 
many times have you seen the grape used in a 
design for dress ornamentation? The daisy, 
clover, pine cones, ferns, cherries and Flower of 
France are only a few of the many things we 
frequently see in outline and form, if not in 
color. 

Almost any leaf becomes beautiful and full 
of suggestions for braiding and stitching de- 
signs when examined closely. 

53 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

As a matter of fact, when one becomes ac- 
customed to being constantly on the lookout for 
ideas, hints and suggestions, it is surprising in 
what queer places we find them. 

For example, my eye was one day attracted 
by the design of a parquet floor ; I made a rough 
sketch and used it an entire season as a braiding 
design. Since then I have often used designs 
found on other floors. Ornamental iron work 
in the subway stations here in New York has 
also contributed to my braiding designs, but 
understand, that when such a suggestion is 
used and worked over according to your own re- 
quirements, there is seldom any resemblance to 
the design from which the idea was taken. 
Therefore you are not copying, but adapting. 
From this remark you are not to understand 
that I consider it any crime against professional 
ethics to copy anything that is available and 
needed, for often it is absolutely necessary. 

My only objection to copying is that it de- 
prives me of that much practice and experience. 

Thinking that perhaps you will say that all 
this sounds very well in theory but that you 
have your doubts about it working out practi- 
cally, I have selected several of the very com- 
monest of our national flowers, which I will try 
to convince you offer practical and artistic sug- 



54 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

gestions that can be employed and developed in 
the ordinary workroom. 

In Fig. I (see page 55) we have a design sug- 
gested by the sumac and adapted to the lines of 
that very admirable street suit, which appeared as 
a cover design on the September, 1909, issue of 
L'Art de la Mode, It was one of the new models, 
for it is evident that until we learn to be original 
in small things we must continue to depend upon 
Paris for the lines on which we build our gowns 
and suits. 

By way of illustrating my plea for some show 
of individuality in every dressmaking establish- 
ment throughout the country, let us suppose that 
some other gownmaker in your town has and is 
making duplicates of the design as shown in 
L'Art de la Mode. The suit appeals to you, and 
you wish to duplicate it also. But, being pro- 
gressive, you do not wish to make anything that 
resembles the work of your contemporaries; 
therefore you take a suggestion for your decora- 
tive scheme from something that Nature offers, 
just as I have evolved the suggestion shown in 
Fig. I. 

You thereby become original in your adap- 
tation, your customer is much pleased that she 
has a gown different from any other, and you 
have given the inventive and artistic tendencies 
of your nature something to feed upon. Your 

S6 




bESlGNlNG 

second and succeeding efforts will cause you less 
and less effort, and at the same time they will 
show improved results. In despair you say, "I 
cannot draw." It is not at all necessary; de- 
velop your ideas in the workroom with needle 

O 

Actual Size 
of Disk 

and thread, scissors, ^nd \some scraps of the 
same material you contemplate using. In de- 
sign Fig. I, I would form the leaves and stems of 
soutache braid and the flower of small discs of 
cloth, cut with a punch that can be purchased in 
any good hardware store, and so sewn to the 
garment with a couple of stitches in each disc 
(permitting the stitches to show or not, as 
fancy may indicate) that the edges- overlap just 
as the scales of a fish. This sort of trimming 
is very effective when done on nets and chiffon, 
which can be developed into a most charming 
waist or bodice to go with the suit. 

Fig. 2, page 58, is a design inspired by the wild 
strawberry plant. The body of the waist could 
be of chiffon cloth (which is the most ser- 
viceable material to wear under a coat), the 
leaves may be cut from thin cloth and used raw 

57 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

edge, and the stem could be either embroidered 
or done with braid. The little buttons are the 
fruit of the vine, small strawberries, and add 




charm and completeness to the design. In this 
case the natural strawberry tint used for the ber- 
ries might supply a happy touch of color if it 

58 



DESIGNING 



with the general tone of the 



would harmonize 
suit or gown. 

I once obtained a unique design from the 
clover blossom and leaf. The gown was made 
of a mauve marquisette with a separate coat of 




silk, both of which were ornamented with the 
clover design. But it was so easily done that 
the apprentice girls were able to do it, and a very 
ornate effect was obtained at very little cost. 



59 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

Fig. 3 shows how pieces of silk of which the 
coat was made were first cut the size of a 
quarter. These were basted wherever a blossom 
was required, and long stitches of zephyr and 
silk, used together, produced a very pretty 
flower. 

A little padding was used under the piece of 
silk to give an elevated or raised effect, and 
there was a small difference between the shade 
of the zephyr and that of the embroidery silk 
used with it. 

The stems were made of the zephyr and em- 
broidery silk done in outline stitch, and the leaves 
were cut from the coat silk, the raw edges of 
which were concealed by an outlining of the 
zephyr. 

Let us aim to be our own designers, appre- 
ciating our own thoughts as much as we do those 
of others, and by intelligent study turn the work- 
room (which we have heretofore regarded as a 
sort of prison) into a studio where our ideas are 
given expression and where labor transforms it- 
self into pleasure. Then you may be sure you 
are progressing and helping to free the gown- 
makers of this country from their Parisian mas- 
ters. 



60 




CHAPTER VIII. 

LINES. 

HE artist finds in the lines of a gown 
or suit as great a field for the dis- 
play of judgment and talent as in 
the coloring, ornamentation and 
texture of material. 
The material and trimming your customer de- 
cides upon may limit the available designs, but in 
the lines of the gown the maker is unrestricted 
and has ample opportunity for the' display of 
skill, conception of proportion and the empha- 
sizing or concealing of good or bad lines. 

No matter how carefully your model and color 
scheme are thought out, they will count for noth- 
ing when the gown is finished if the lines are not 
correct, for the becomingness and individuality 
of the gown are absolutely dependent upon the 
correctness and quality of the lines. 

Another thought that should be constantly 
borne in mind is that no gown or suit can possi- 
bly be smart or stylish unless it is becoming. 

Loose fitting conceals and tightness emphasizes 
the good or bad qualities of the lines beneath. 
For this reason it is just as important to gown 

6i 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

large figures loosely as small ones, but, unfor- 
tunately, the average large person does not real- 
ize this fact as keenly as the very slight indi- 
vidual does. Of course, the treatment of the 
two figures is quite different, but the principle 
involved is the same, namely, that of concealing 
the undesirable lines. 

We are all familiar with the distressing sight 
of the middle-aged or elderly woman, whose 
form is inclined to corpulency, dressed in a gown 
or coat that is so tight fitting that the abdomen, 
large arms, round shoulders and short neck com- 
pel attention by their very prominence. The 
sight is a sad reflection on the woman's gown- 
maker, who should be the one to save her from 
such an exhibition of the punishment that time, 
carelessness and ignorance have inflicted. 

Much of this unsightliness is, of course, due 
to improper and poor corsetting, but this fact 
does not excuse the gown maker, who is foolish 
enough to attempt to build a gown on such a 
foundation, for the corset bears the same rela- 
tion to the modern gown that the foundation of 
a building does to architecture. Insist on your 
customer being well corsetted if you have any 
hope of your work showing quality. This does 
not mean that she must part with a fancy price 
for a custom-made corset; many stays of most 
excellent shape and workmanship are on the 

62 



LINES 

market, and can be had in innumerable shops 
where there is usually an expert to advise the 
purchaser as to what particular model will best 
adapt itself to her figure and to make any small 
changes that may be necessary. The possessor 
of any but an extreme sort of figure in this way 
obtains stays which have most of the good points 
of the high-priced custom-made article, gets them 
quicker than if made to measure and at a third 
of the cost. 

Such corsets are sold at a very reasonable 
profit, and are easily within the reach of the 
purse of any woman who makes any pretense of 
dressing even moderately well. As a matter of 
fact, consideration should be given to the stays 
before the gown is even thought of, and, if a 
diplomatic explanation to your customer of the 
necessity for proper stays does not convince her 
of the reasonableness of your request, you 
should, in justice to yourself and your work, re- 
fuse to accept her order. This, quicker than 
anything else, will convince her that you know 
what you are talking about, and will increase her 
confidence in your ability and judgment. She 
may plead that she must be comfortable; if so, 
assure her that she does not know what comfort 
is if she still clings to the old-fashioned stay that 
permits, and helps to increase, the size and quan- 
tity of the fatty tissues of the abdomen; that 

63 



^HE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

destroys all "poise" and "carriage" ; that elevates 
the bust to a horrible line which shortens the 
length of the neck (in effect, if not in reality), 
and which does not possess a single point in its 
favor. Happily, this type is growing scarcer as 
modern methods of dress are understood, but 
they are still seen enough to be a serious reflec- 
tion on the intelligence of our gownmakers at 
large. 



A serious and common error is often made in 
lacing the stay too tight, causing the flesh to pro- 
trude above or below. This difficulty is easily 
overcome by using three lacers, each one lacing 
about one-third of the stay. The center lacer is 
used to take the greater part of the strain, while 
the top and bottom ones are drawn only suffi- 
ciently tight to make the stay lie smoothly against 
the figure. 



A figure that is round-shouldered may be 
greatly improved by building out the shoulders 
in the back so that the line across the back will 
be less curved. This may be done with ruffles in 
a waist lining and with padding in a coat, and in 
both cases the trimming or ornamentation can be 
made to assist. Fitting closely to the waist in 
the back should be avoided in such cases, unless 
the figure is slight ; the short-waisted or Empire 

64 



LINES 

effects are better, but, of course, it is only directly 
in the center of the back that the line is so help- 
ful, therefore the short-waisted line need only be 
employed there, normal or modish lines being 
used elsewhere. 



A figure that possesses a large bust and flat 
abdomen should be fitted loose below the bust line 
in order not to exaggerate the size of the bust. 
The ornamentation is often permitted to hang 
away from the figure at this point, which makes 
the form look smaller beneath. 



Large hips seem smaller if the waist is made 
large. This should be accomplished in the fitting 
of the stay, but wonders can also be worked into 
the gown or suit by fitting loose under the arm. 
The best illustration of this argument is to be 
seen in the difference the same figure presents 
when clothed, respectively, in a tight-fitting coat 
and one that is loose. 



Hardest of all the abnormal lines to conceal is 
the large abdomen. The best remedy available 
is first to make sure that the skirt does not poke 
out in front at the bottom. This is accomplished, 
in a gored skirt, by holding the top of the gore a 
little full and likewise each side of the gore over 
the fullest part of the abdomen. The fulness 

65 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

thus held in should be retained by a thin tape, 
which may be sewn in with the seam, and the 
shaping is thereby secured indefinitely. Sec- 
ondly, the bust should be built out, for the larger 
the bust the smaller will appear to be the abdo- 
men. Aside from a few good lines that may be 
obtained in the ornamenting, this is all that can 
be done with such a figure. 

But remember, you are not doctoring the evil, 
you are only concealing it (or trying to) when 
you follow these suggestions. The remedy 
should be cured by the corsetier, and it is an 
acknowledged fact that it can be cured, even 
when the person is well along in years, but it re- 
quires time and perseverance and more than one 
pair of stays. However, the results possible are 
worth the efforts of both the customer and her 
gownmaker. 



66 




CHAPTER IX. 

WAIST LININGS. 

HE waist lining in general use with 
first-class gownmakers consists of 
five pieces on each side ; that is, the 
entire lining is composed of ten sep- 
arate parts. The dart seam extends 
to the shoulder, and there is also a seam in the 
back that runs to the same place. 

It is not at all necessary to have these seams 
meet or match at the shoulder ; on the contrary, 
there is often a good reason for having them 
reach the shoulder at different points, for, unlike 
the seams of a coat that are used to divide the 
proportions of a figure, and thereby become part 
of the ornamentation of the garment, the seams 
of a waist lining are always covered, and for that 
reason may be placed in any position that will 
add to the comfort of the lining and make it fit 
better. There is usually a slight depression in 
the front of the shoulder between the neck and 
shoulder joint, and the dart seam should run up 
through the center of this depression, which, of 
course, varies in different figures, sometimes 

67 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

being close to the neck, and in other figures 
nearer the shoulder joint. 

In the back the shoulder blade is more or less 
prominent in the average figure, and the back 
seam should run over the fullest part, conse- 
quently it may not meet or match the front seam 
at the shoulder. 

The underarm piece is employed in this lining, 
making two seams under the arm, but in small, 
slight figures it may be discarded by cutting both 
the front and back pieces a little wider, v/hich, 
when joined, give but a single seam under the 
arm in place of the customary two. 

Keep the armhole as small as possible. This 
necessitates having the lining very high under 
the arm. 

Personally, I consider the armhole by far the 
most important part of the lining, for more good 
or damage may be accomplished with it than 
with any other portion. 

Round shoulders may be prevented and also 
cured if, when fitting, you wall have your cus- 
tomer stand abnormally erect, with shoulders 
back and chest expanded. 

Be unusually careful to keep the armhole 
small, and fit the lining quite tight across the 
back. Then, when the finished garment is worn, 
it will be found to be uncomfortable if an erect 
position of the body is not maintained, and, while 

68 



WAIST LININGS 

some annoyance is likely to be experienced at 
first, just as is the case with a new shoe, the body 
soon adjusts itself to the condition, greatly to the 
benefit of the individual's appearance. This is 
not an untried theory. I have put it to practical 
test many times, and it has always been success- 
ful if the customer was sufficiently interested in 
the proceeding to endure the slight annoyance 
at first noticeable. 

A small, well-fitted armhole also permits of a 
sleeve that will give great freedom to the move- 
ments of the arm, and, of course, the higher the 
garment is fitted under the arm the longer 
waisted the person appears. Many people have 
an idea that a large armhole means comfort. 
Such is not the case when sleeves' of the present 
dimensions are in vogue, and this rule applies 
not only to waists but to coats as well. 

There is no good reason for fitting tight across 
the bust and chest, but the average woman looks 
and feels better if her bodices are snug across 
the back. 

Open the linings in the back when it is prac- 
ticable, as the yokes and collars may be made to 
fit better than when the opening is in the front. 
Avoid tafifeta silk for linings when possible, as it 
is stifif and not sufficiently porous, is apt to split, 
and has other disadvantages. Corsica silk is far 
better, but is sold only in black and white. This 

69 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

silk is thin, soft and possesses wonderful wearing 
qualities. 

When I require colored linings I use sapho or 
other similar weaves, the softness and pliability 
influencing my decision. A safe rule in selecting 
linings is to always have them softer than the 
outside material. This is most essential in the 
present styles, and will remain so as long as soft 
materials continue in favor. Financial reasons 
compel some gownmakers to use cotton linings. 
In such cases the waist lining will stretch less if 
the goods is cut on the cross instead of the 
length, but the skirt lining is cut on the length. 

In the boning of waists, I have found that 
Featherbone gives most satisfactory results. It 
is an American invention that is not only used 
extensively in this country, but has been adopted 
by many of the gownmakers on the other side 
of the Atlantic. 

Where the proportions will permit, chiffon 
cloth or a heavy mousseline de soie makes an 
admirable waist lining, and, of course, it is made 
without boning of any kind. Soft silks are also 
used in this same way with satisfactory results, 
but the character of the bodice or waist must 
determine the availability of such a lining. These 
soft linings find their greatest usefulness in the 
waist that is used with a tailored suit, for, being 
soft, they are more comfortable under a coat 

70 



WAIST LININGS 

than a boned bodice. Sleeves require most care- 
ful fitting, especially when they are small in con- 
tour. If, in fitting the cambric for your pattern, 
the hand is laid on the opposite shoulder and the 
elbow elevated to the level of the shoulder, a 
splendid position of the arm is obtained for the 
fitting, and comfort to the wearer is assured. 
With the arm in this position it will be noticed 
that great length is required in the back from 
the elbow to the shoulder, and the lining should 
be so cut. 

Even with sufficient length of sleeve to allow 
for the extreme position I have suggested, com- 
fort is impossible, unless the waist lining is cut 
high under the arm. Long, slight arms require 
sleeves that are almost straight. Stout or fleshy 
arms need sleeves that are more curved ; that is, 
there is more bend to the sleeve at the elbow. 

The average gownmaker and tailor depend en- 
tirely too much on the tape line. Cultivate your 
eye so that a glance is better, and means more, 
than any number of measures. For instance, 
have you ever seen a waist that was "twisted"? 
Your tape line will probably show that every 
piece is exactly right in proportion, yet the least 
trained eye can see that "something" is wrong. 
Incidentally, this "twist" may be avoided in both 
waists and coats by stitching up one seam and 
dozun the next. 

71 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

That is, if one underarm seam is stitched up, 
the other or corresponding seam on the opposite 
side of the garment should be stitched down. 

Secure basting also helps in avoiding a 
"twisted" garment. In my own establishment 
the tape line has very little work to do, for when 
an order is taken we do not measure the cus- 
tomer with a tape line but with cambric. A num- 
ber of waist linings in different sizes, cut from 
five cents a yard cambric and only pinned to- 
gether, are kept in readiness so that when "meas- 
ures" are required, a pattern somewhere near the 
size of the customer is put on and fitted, usually 
over the bodice the customer is wearing, and the 
result is a pattern that has more character and 
better proportions than any I have ever seen cut 
by systems, charts or other means. This cambric 
pattern has the waist line marked, not because we 
really need the waist line but just to give us a 
guide in putting the real lining together. A line, 
one, two or three inches above the real waistline, 
would answer the purpose just as well. The 
location of each pin is then marked and the pat- 
tern taken apart, pressed out flat, and with a 
piece of tailor's chalk a line is made through the 
row of pin marks, and any slight corrections 
necessary are made. After this pattern has been 
placed on the lining proper and cut, the lines are 
traced and the lining basted together, and any 

12 



WAIST LININGS 

small changes or alterations made at the fitting 
are carefully marked on the original cambric pat- 
tern, so that they will not be required on the next 
lining, for the cambric pattern is preserved for 
future use. 

L'Art de la Mode Block Waist Patterns 
may be obtained in single sizes or in sets. 

When the customer calls for the first fitting 
the lining is stitched and boned with the excep- 
tion of the front and back seams, and at this 
fitting, when the customer is in a plain lining, 
''test" measures may be taken with the tape if 
they seem indispensable. 




CHAPTER X. 

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO DRESSMAKERS. 

NE-PIECE gowns, which are still 
very much in demand, are easily 
made by fitting a separate waist and 
skirt lining and joining them at the 
waist line, after which it is padded 
out on the fitting form and the outside draped 
over it. The lining with the upper or waist part 
and the lower or skirt portion cut all in one, is 
harder to handle and more difficult to bring to a 
state of perfection, but it is certainly best adapted 
to the gown made of very thin materials, and it 
can also be advantageously employed where long 
loose lines are desired.- The first fitting should 
be given in cambric and altered until it is be- 
yond criticism. Look carefully to the fulness 
of the skirt part, and the manner in which it 
falls, keeping the straight of the goods through 
the center of each piece, or, to be more exact, 
nearly so, for the cross grain should run lightly 
downward toward the front. This lining, like 
the one made of two pieces, should be padded 
out on the form and the draping as nearly fin- 
ished as possible before fitting. In padding out 

74 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO DRESSMAKERS 

these linings or others, tissue paper is usually 
employed, but if it remains in work very long, 
the tissue becomes crushed, and the lining con- 
sequently loose, which prevents good draping. 
Curled hair is a little more expensive at the 
start, but can be used repeatedly, and so long 
that the initial cost is hardly to be considered. 
At the same time it will keep the lining filled 
out indefinitely and cannot be crushed or flat- 
tened, no matter how much it is handled. 

A new undergarment recently designed by a 
large French house, for wear under the gowns 
that are clinging about the feet, is made of 
Milanese silk. 

It is cut just like the one-piece lining above 
mentioned, but is not boned. It is low in the neck 
and has no sleeves, but is charmingly trimmed 
about the top with lace, ribbons and embroidery. 
The main feature of the garment is the bottom, 
which is made of silk fringe, twelve inches 
deep, in the same shade as the garment. 

The bottom of the fringe falls to about the 
length of a short walking skirt, and gives weight 
to the garment at the proper place, without 
making anything bulky around the feet. 

It is worn under gowns that are made without 
lining. 

Like many other tailors and gown makers, 
we have experienced our share of annoyance 

75 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

and trouble, caused by the stretching of the 
loosely woven woolens, in favor this season. We 
have overcome the difficulty in the skirts by lin- 
ing them just as a coat is lined. That is, the 
skirt is first made without any lining and fitted 
in this condition, and after the lines are satisfac- 
tory each gore is spread smoothly on a large 
press-board and a gore of silk basted in place. 
The lining is attached all around, bottom and all, 
and gives a foundation that prevents the outside 
part from sagging and becoming ''kneed." The 
lining must, of course, be soft, otherwise the 
clinging effect will be lost and the skirt will ap- 
pear to be lined with hair cloth or canvas. 

It should reach to the top of the hem, or in 
other words, a few inches of the material are left 
at the bottom to take the extra hard wear the 
skirt will receive at that point. An ordinary 
skirt braid finishes the extreme bottom. This 
braid should always be shrunk, and when sew- 
ing it on, hold it rather full. For these ex- 
tremely loose weaves the gored pattern offers 
the best model as the skirt will have less oppor- 
tunity to sag than where the pieces are wider. 
If plaits are used, the edge of each should be 
stitched as close to the edge as possible, which 
will help to prevent stretching. Don't be dis- 
couraged if either the coat or skirt appear to be 
"twisted," for the popular loose weaves are 

76 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO DRESSMAKERS 

again responsible, as many of them stretch 
more on one bias than they do on the other. 

The remedy is to open the seam and let the 
edge stretch as much as it seems to require and 
then take a new line with your pattern. 

Still another way (and a very good one it is) 
is to cut out your material roughly, allowing 
large seams and fit it to your customer just as 
you ordinarily would fit the cambric. Then 
mark the position of each pin, take the pins out, 
lay each piece down flat and run a chalk line 
through the marks where the pins were, laying 
the corresponding pieces together and thread 
mark them to get the two parts alike. Don't 
omit the lead weights in these coats, as they are 
most essential. 

Also, cut your arm holes unusually small, for 
the material is apt to stretch so much that it 
(the arm hole) will be so large, the garment will 
be ruined, or a great deal of work will be re- 
quired to right the defect. Remember, an 
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
At my establishment we often make wide 
stitched belts to use with our tailored skirts, but 
of course the customer's figure is considered 
first. We like the belts as wide as the figure 
can becomingly wear them. These belts are 
made on two thicknesses of cambric and both it 
and the outside goods should be cut bias and 

11 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

firmly basted together. Then, before stitching, 
stretch both upper and lower edge with the aid 
of an iron, so that the center of the belt will rest 
against the figure. 

Where we make a separate bodice or waist to 
go with the tailored suit, an extra girdle of 
trimming silk is usually sent home with the 
order. 

For instance, we recently made a strictly 
tailored suit of mauve cheviot that was most 
appropriately worn with white linen shirts, and 
the wide belt of the same material above re- 
ferred to, for morning shopping, etc. Then for 
afternoon wear, we made a bodice of net, chif- 
fon and satin, all in the same shades of the coat 
and skirt and to use with this, there was a 
crushed girdle of satin, which had hanging ends, 
about eight or nine inches long, around the 
edge of which there was a narrow plaiting of 
the net with satin edge. This dressy bodice 
made the suit available and appropriate for 
matinee and semi-formal occasions of the after- 
noon, and it is safe to say that the average 
American woman can and does get more service 
from such a suit than from any other part of 
her wardrobe. 



78 




CHAPTER XL 

FURS. 

NY ordinarily intelligent gownmaker 
or tailor can add a considerable 
amount to his yearly profits by 
altering and remodeling furs. 
The experience and knowledge 
gained from this class of work soon inspires suffi- 
cient confidence to warrant the undertaking of 
new orders, and as the average regular furrier 
requires much larger profits than the tailor or 
gownmaker receives, very attractive estimates 
can be offered the customer. 

The gownmaker can usually add something in 
the way of ornamentation that would not be 
found on the furrier's work except in the very 
high-priced models that come from' Paris. At- 
tractive ornaments and trimming certainly im- 
prove most furs and relieve the severeness of 
appearance that they otherwise have. 

The French models, especially this season, 
shovv^ great variety of trimming, and few coats 
or mufifs and neckpieces are made entirely of a 
single kind of fur. Chiffon the color of fur, 
over satin, either in self or contrasting shades, 

79 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

seems to be the most effective and popular, and 
in shapes there is just as great opportunity for 
the display of originality and ingenious ideas as 
in any branch of garment making. A clever 
muff I saw recently was made like a large en- 
velope, only with the ends open to receive the 
hands. The flap covered an immense pocket the 
size of the entire muff, into which several toilet 
articles such as a lady might require during an 
afternoon's absence from home were fitted, still 
leaving considerable room, which would be most 
convenient when one was shopping. Another 
imported model was made of strips of Australian 
opossum (which is a serviceable gray fur that 
greatly resembles chinchilla and is not very ex- 
pensive), and between the strips of fur were 
puffings of cobalt-blue satin which was covered 
with gray chiffon, also puffed. The effect was 
most pleasing, and this model would be an ideal 
one for the beginner to use, either in new work 
or alterations, for the matching of the furs to 
make the seams as nearly invisible as possible 
(which is perhaps the most difficult part of fur 
work) is not necessary, owing to the puffings be- 
tween the bands of fur. An old muff of small 
size could be cut into bands, and with the aid of 
satin and chiffon or other trimming a muff of 
fashionable size could be made without the addi- 
tion of any fur. Black astrachan is probably 

80 



FURS 

the easiest fur to work with, and at the same 
tbie it is the most serviceable. 

Skins with long, curly hair can be purchased 
for $1.50, and as the hair gets shorter and glossy 
the price goes higher, the best being worth about 
$8.00 each. As the breed of animal is smaller in 
these better class skins, it requires about two of 
the $8.00 kind to equal in size one of the $1.50 
variety, and they do not wear as well as the 
heavier ones. The Australian opossum I men- 
tioned is a skin about eight inches wide and 
twelve inches long, and about two-thirds of it 
can be used. The price per skin runs from 
$2.00 to $3.00. 

'It is a popular fur and has good wearing quali- 
ties, as well as possessing smartness. In my own 
establishment we have used this fur to modernize 
handsome astrachan coats, which were made a 
season or two ago. In one case that is typical a 
three-quarter coat that was made three winters 
ago had some of the fulness taken out of the 
skirt part and fitted in a little closer to the figure. 
The pieces taken from the skirt part were used 
to repair such places as needed attention, and a 
large rolling collar of the Australian opossum 
added. A wide band of this fur was also added 
to the bottom of the coat, making it full length. 

If you do not care to take the responsibility of 
cutting the fur and having it put together in your 

81 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

own workrooms, there is another method prev- 
alent among good houses here in New York that 
has many advantages. It consists of fitting a 
canvas to your customer and sending the recti- 
fied pattern to a good furrier for the construc- 
tion. 

It is even advisable to give the canvas a second 
fitting, so that a minimum amount of alteration 
will be necessary when the fur garment is tried 
on. In this way your customer gets the benefit 
of your knowledge of her lines, and, with the 
addition of braid, embroidery or other trimming, 
a very handsome and individual garment leaves 
your establishment. The furrier will give you 
an estimate of the cost when he sees your canvas, 
and can plan just how many pelts will be required 
to build the coat or whatever else you may be 
making. 

In any case, it is safe to say that after paying 
the furrier, and making a reasonable charge for 
yourself, the garment will cost the customer less 
than it could be purchased in the shops, to say 
nothing of the greater satisfaction she would 
have in the custom-made article. 

One customer brought us a beaver muff and 
neckpiece that had been discarded on account of 
the "queer" old shapes they were cut. At a cost 
of $12.00 we added tan chiffon over a lighter 
shade of satin, making the two pieces not only 

82 



FURS 

vs^earable but smart, and the customer was de- 
lighted to pay us a profit of loo per cent. In 
another case we used an old Persian lamb neck- 
piece with the best parts of a sealskin coat to 
make a good muff and a large collar for a storm 
coat. These two furs combine well. We used 
the Persian lamb as a band on the outer edge of 
the collar and around the ends of the muff; the 
rest was of the seal. 

Skins or pelts should be moistened on the hide 
side and, while damp, stretched and tacked on a 
board or wall to dry. The cutting should be 
done with a sharp knife from the skin side, so as 
not to cut the hair on the opposite side. There- 
fore, don't lay the fur on the table when cut- 
ting, but rather hold it up. The ^hape should 
first be marked on the pelt side with chalk. If 
the fur you are working with is old or tender 
and will not hold stitches well, the whole fur 
may be greatly strengthened and made more ser- 
viceable by sewing it to a thin, firm percaline or 
cambric, which should also be soft. We recently 
handled a very costly ermine lining that had 
ceased to be useful on account of its tearing as 
fast as it could be mended. We mounted it on a 
fine linen lawn, which was ''padded" to the fur 
with stitches not more than a quarter of an inch 
apart, and I believe it will now stand more hard 
wear than it has already given its owner. By 

83 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

^'padding" is meant the same stitch that is used 
to sew the canvas and material together in the 
construction of the under part of a man's collar. 
The linen lawn or percaline lining is designed 
to take the strain that otherwise would come on 
the fur. 




CHAPTER XII. 

BOOKKEEPING. 

N all dressmaking establishments the 
problem of ascertaining the exact 
cost of each order leaving the work- 
rooms is most important both in the 
large and the small business, but the 
large concern has the advantage over the smaller 
one by reason of the greater amount of bookkeep- 
ing required, making it necessary to employ ex- 
perienced accountants to do the work. In the 
small establishment, where there is comparatively 
little, the bookkeeping is often undertaken by 
someone who has other duties, and this circum- 
stance in connection with a lack of training or 
understanding of the best methods, often leads to 
complications, and "guessing" has to be resorted to. 
The writer believes that most of the objections 
encountered in ordinary systems have been pro- 
vided for and overcome in the one described 
herein, which, with minor changes, has given 
complete satisfaction in his own establishment 
for the past five years. It is adapted to a busi- 
ness of any proportion, but where the amount of 
orders executed in a season are small, several 

85 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 



slight changes may be made to simplify the work. 
The books required are the Day book, Journal, 
Ledger, Order and Cost books in addition to the 
Pay-Roil and Individual time books for each em- 






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ploye. In the Order book a memorandum of all 
details connected with each order is written and 
each is given a number. Each page of the Cost 
book is numbered to correspond with the num- 
bers in the Order book. 

This order number should be written on a tag, 
together with the customer's name, and sewn to 
86 



BOOKKEEPING 



the garment, where it remains until the garment 
is ready to be deHvered. The tag is for the pur- 
pose of identifying the order when the employes 
give an account of their time each day, which 
they do in the manner shown in the ''Sample of 



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individual time book." One of these little books 
is provided for each person, and if they are sup- 
posed to work from eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing until six in the evening, allowing an hour for 
lunch, the working day is composed of nine 
hours' labor, and this amount of time must be 
shown in this individual time book if the em- 
ploye is to be paid for a full day's work. 

This account of time may be kept by each 

87 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAJLORING 

person, but a better way is to let one of the girls 
take all the time each day in order that the wri- 
ting may all be the same, and therefore less con- 
fusing to the bookkeeper than when each per- 
son does her own. The number of the order 
and the name of the customer are copied from 
the tag on each garment that has been worked 
on, and the number of hours indicated opposite. 
By using two pages, as shown in the sample, the 
entire week's work may be seen at a glance, and 
the number of hours worked each day may be 
quickly copied into the regular time or pay-roll 
book, a specimen page of which is also shown. 
Let it be understood that no time will be paid 
for unless it appears in this little book, for the 
hours are also copied into the "Cost Book," which 
will be described next. One of the chief ad- 
vantages of this system is that the amount of 
wages paid out in a given time will equal the 
amount of labor charged against orders, a con- 
dition that seldom prevails in a gownmaking 
establishment. 

The ''Cost Book," a sample page of which is 
herewith shown, is the only book used that is 
different from the regular and conventional man- 
ner of accounting. Its simplicity and accuracy 
is apparent at a glance, showing, as it does, the 
entire cost of materials, the total of the labor 
cost and the sum total of both of these. 
88 



BOOKKEEPING 



The number of hours any employe has spent 
on the garment is obtainable in a second, and 
you have the satisfaction of knowing to the 



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penny what the entire cost of the order has been. 
Referring to the sample page of the individual 
time book, it will be seen that the employe desig- 
nated "Mary" worked three hours on Monday, 

89 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

December 6, on order No. 447, which is being 
made for Mrs. Miller. Tuesday, the 7th inst,, 
shows she worked three hours, and so on. Check 
each individual book as the time is entered. On 
Saturday she worked an hour overtime, which 






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is so noted, and in making out the pay-roll she 
is paid accordingly, and the time charged against 
the order just as the other is, but the letters 
O.T. are inserted to indicate that it was over- 
time, which explains why more than nine hours, 
the regular day's work, has been charged up. 

The "day," "journal" and "ledger" are used 
in just the same manner as usual, but note on 
the specimen of the ledger page how the order 
is charged to Mrs. Miller; by simply charging 
the number. No. 447, and when Mrs. Miller's 

90 



BOOKKEEPING 

check is received the account balances without 
an unnecessary figure. 

Every gownmaker has to make some altera- 
tions on old work to accommodate her customers, 
but she should not have to do it at a financial 







loss, and this system will prevent just that sort 
of undercharging. In my own establishment, we 
have a rule not to give estimates for alterations ; 
when they are finished a fair percentage of profit 
is added to the workroom cost and a bill ren- 
dered for that amount. Often the alterations 
cost less than we thought they would, but usually 
they cost more, and to guard against loss from 

91 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

underestimating we have made the rule above 
referred to. 

All goods received are first charged to stock, 
and from stock they are recharged to the dif- 
ferent orders they are to be used on. 

We have found that instead of having separate 
books for the ''cash" and "stock" accounts, they 
may be carried for a season in an ordinary "jour- 
nal." We use an entirely new set of books for 
each season, and have them of uniform size, so 
that we can refer at a moment's notice to any 
order we have ever made and obtain at a glance 
any information we may desire. 



92 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. 
WATKINS 

Will Mr. Watkins kindly tell me whether or not I 
should line the coat of a white mohair or serge suit? 
It seems to me that it cannot be lined unless the lining 
is to be removed to- clean. 

Mohair coats are often made without Hnlng 
because they slip on easily, but such is not the 
case with serge, which should always be lined. 
It would be dangerous to make up without a 
lining some of the new very thin mohairs, as 
they have not sufficient body in themselves to 
stand the strain. Both mohairs and" serges clean 
just as well with lining in them as without. 
* * * 

I wish to know if the silk like enclosed sample should 
be shrunk or sponged before making into coat suit, No. 
1990. As water spots all silks belonging to the pongee 
family, I would like your advice. 

Silks do not require sponging or shrinking. 
They are apt to spot from rain, but this cannot 
be avoided by shrinking them beforehand. 

Since writing the chapter containing a descrip- 
tion of the proper methods of sponging and 
shrinking different materials, I have been asked 
why I did not describe the manner in which silks 
are sponged. The omission was due entirely 
93 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

to the fact that silks are cut as they reach you, 
no sponging or shrinking being necessary. In 
fact, if you should attempt to do so, you would 
take great chances of ruining the fabric. 

And don't dampen seams or any other part of 
a silk garment when pressing. Place a thin 
piece of cambric over the part to be flattened, 
and use only a moderately warm iron. This will 
sometimes cause a seam to lie flat that would 
not do so if the iron was placed next to the silk. 

In making a coat, my material had been shrunk. After 
putting my canvas in and pressing, it seemed to be all 
right until I gave my last pressing, and now that my 
coat is practically finished the outside seems to be too 
tightly stretched. Is there anything I can do? The idea 
of ripping and making my coat over has discouraged 
me dreadfully, and I hope you may help me out. 

Your material may have been shrunk, but 
it is quite evident that it was not shrunk suffi- 
ciently. Read the instructions for sponging. If 
the shrinking has not made your coat too short- 
waisted or otherwise ruined the shape of the 
outside, the "tight" effect you describe may be 
remedied by cutting the canvas, allowing the 
edges to overlap sufficiently to relieve the 
"stretch" of the outside material. Take a few 
stitches in the overlapping edges of the canvas. 

The lesson this experience has taught you is 
worth much more to you than the trouble it will 

94 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. WATKINS 

require to make the coat right, even if you have 
to take it entirely to pieces. 



Can you tell me why in pressing a tailor-made coat 
the cloth separates from the canvas ; that is, doesn't look 
flat as it should. I have basted it closely, dampened 
well and pressed until dry, and it leaves marks of bast- 
ings and looks as if it had not been well done. 

The reason the cloth and canvas do not 
lie close together is because either one or both 
were not properly shrunk. I imagine the canvas 
was put in on the straight of the grain (it should 
have been slightly bias) and that it shrank some 
when the coat was being pressed. Your press- 
ing is probably all right as far as it has been 
done, and the marks of bastings and the shine 
that results from pressure of the iron may 
easily be removed by first covering the affected 
part with a slightly damp cloth and pressing 
very lighly with a moderately hot iron, the ob- 
ject being to force just enough steam through 
the cloth to raise the nap of the cloth. 



Should shantung silk be sponged to prevent spotting, 
and should it be shrunk in cold water or steam-sponged? 
My piece is smooth finish, not a rough pongee. 

Also will you tell me what causes small, puckering 
wrinkles at a distance of, say, one and one-half inches 
above, below and at the waist line, on the seam on 
each side of the front and on each side of the back of 

95 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

a coat, where there is no center-back seam? This 
has been my greatest difficulty in making semi-fitted 
coats. Have used several L'Art de la Mode patterns, 
and, while they are in every way satisfactory, I have 
always had this difficulty. Also, how should I press 
these seams; should they be stretched? I have slashed 
all the curved places in each case. 

Your first question, relative to the shrinking 
of silks, is answered in Chapter II. 

The wrinkles that have bothered you have 
been caused by one of two things. Either the 
pieces of your coat have been cut too wide, or 
you have been fitting too tight. With a wide, 
straight, seamless back, even on a slight figure, 
it is obvious that the lines must be left very loose. 

If a slightly fitted effect is desired, the coat 
must have more pieces, thereby making them 
narrow, which will make it possible to give the 
coat more shape. 

After cutting, and before putting the coat to- 
gether, stretch the edges of each piece with the 
aid of an iron for a distance of four or five 
inches above and below the waist line. 

If the material is silk, do not dampen ; if it is 
woolen or anything that water will not damage, a 
little moisture will aid the pressing. 



Will you please tell me in making coat 4954 in Sep- 
tember L'Art de la Mode if the front would just be 

q6 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. WATKINS 

lined with cambric or canvas? Also if the neck and 
armsizes should have any facing of canvas? What kind 
of cambric do you mean for facing, common cambric, 
5c. per yard ? 

Should the coat be lined throughout if made of heavy 
zibeline? In basting in a lining, which is the correct 
way? To baste the lining onto the goods or have the 
goods on the side you do the basting? 

The use of cambric makes a lighter, softer 
coat, than when canvas is employed, and the 
cambric is easier to work than the canvas. 

The selection of one in preference to the 
other is purely a matter of personal like or dis- 
like for ''soft" or ''stiff" work. Some customers 
like the one kind, others like the reverse. The 
canvas or cambric, whichever is employed, should 
go around the arm holes and neck: The cambric 
is the ordinary five cent quality and, like canvas, 
should be thoroughly shrunk before using. The 
coat should not be lined throughout with the 
canvas or cambric, no matter what the material. 
The silk lining should be basted onto the coat ; 
the basting should not be done from the outside. 
A small raised press board is very helpful in 
basting in the lining. 

* * * 

I have been reading over your lessons on successful 
tailoring and I see that in the third article you say 
that the canvas should be seamed up separately from 
the outside. 

Now does that mean that canvas is sewn up like the 

97 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

lining, and then when you put your finishing stitches on 
the seams of the coat you stitch right through the can- 
vas, or is the canvas just attached by hand after all out- 
side stitching is done on the coat? And would you 
please tell me whether in light weight goods such as 
serge, the canvas should go all through the coat, clear 
to the bottom, both back and front, or whether you 
would advise using linen tape from the hips down, and 
whether in a broadcloth suit you would use the canvas 
the same as you described to be used in the shantung 
coat at the end of lesson 2? 

Would you also give me information on how to make 
the pockets without the flap and also the pocket that is 
similar to the top left-hand pocket of a man's vest which 
is sometimes put on the left-hand side of a woman's 
coat. 

The stitching should all be done on the 
outside material before the canvas is put in. 
The latter is seamed separately and then fastened 
to the outside part of the seams. 

The canvas should never go entirely through 
the coat. In Chapter II you will find descrip- 
tions and illustrations of the way the canvas and 
cambric is used. 

The pocket you inquire about is made by 
basting the flap upside down onto the coat, after 
which it is stitched on what is then the upper 
edge. The pocket hole is then cut and the back 
of the pocket lining stitched in place. 

The flap is next turned up and stitched along 
the outside edges, and the front of the lining 

98 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. WATKINS 

attached, usually by stitching through the seam 
that attaches the flap to the coat. 

Lastly, the two pieces of the lining are sewn 
together, which makes the pocket. 

* * * 

I made a coat and find, after finishing it, that it 
wrinkles badly at the waistline at the side front. I 
have tried taking it in, but that doesn't help. Can you 
give me some advice? 

A number of different things may cause 
the wrinkles in the front of the coat you write 
about. The front piece may be held too full 
where the wrinkles occur, or it may require 
stretching, which necessarily would be indicated 
by the wrinkles appearing some distance from 
the seam, and there are other things that would 
cause the same trouble, but the easiest remedy, 
if the defect does not respond to simple treat- 
ment, would be to pin the wrinkles up in any 
position they will go easiest, then take the fronts 
entirely out of your coat, and make a new pat- 
tern by the front that has the wrinkles pinned 
in. After you have an accurate pattern, remove 
the pins from the part that was wrinkled, and 
the difference between the new pattern and the 
old front will probably show you where your 

trouble was. 

♦ * * 

In pressing the seams, how do you prevent the shin- 
ing on the right side and how do you remove the same? 

99 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

I also have great difBculty in pressing plaits, a streak 
on the right side being caused by the edge of plait on 
wrong side. How do you prevent this? 

What is the best interlining that you can suggest, 
something that is light in weight but warm? Is there 
anything that is better than crinoline to line a voile coat 
with? If so, do you think the coat should be lined 
throughout with this? Is a coat interlined with chamois 
equal to one lined with fur? I have great difficulty in 
obtaining a perfect hanging skirt. I have tried a num- 
ber of the skirt markers. Is there one that you can 
recommend that is inexpensive? 

In interlining a coat do you stitch the interlining 
in with the seams of the material or do you stitch both 
separately? 

The gloss on the right side of the gar- 
ment, which is noticeable after you have pressed 
the seam, may be removed by laying a slightly 
damp cloth over the shiny part and touching it 
lightly with a moderately warm iron. This proc- 
ess may have to be repeated a number of times. 
By laying several folds of thick wrapping paper 
under each plait while it is being pressed, you 
will obviate the streaks you complain of. We are 
sending you a sample of the interlining used in 
our establishment. It may be purchased in the 
better class dry goods shops and costs from sixty 
to ninety cents a yard. Do not line your voile 
coats with crinoline. A better plan is to stitch 
your voile and silk lining together. The seams 
may be turned to the outside, pressed open, and 

100 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. WATKINS 

covered with braid or other trimming, or they 
may be turned to the inside and covered with a 
strip of hning silk. This makes a very thin and 
light coat. If you will study Chapter VI, I 
think you will have little bother in getting an 
even line on your skirts in future. A very inex- 
spensive skirt marker is described in that article. 
When interlining a coat after the seams have been 
pressed open, baste the inner lining to the seams 
of the coat to hold it in place and have the 
edges of the inner lining only meet; for if they 
overlap, there will be an unnecessary thickness. 
* * * 

I suppose 3'our offer to answer perplexing questions 
on tailoring is for the home tailor also. Would you 
line coat No. 5023 throughout with drilfing (I am using 
broadcloth) for extra weight? Also how shall I use 
an interlining of light canvas for body part? What 
may be the reason that with every coat I make there 
is always a fold under the back collar? Your answer 
will be of great assistance to me. 

The drilling you inquire about would only 
make your coat heavy without giving any 
warmth. Use instead a loosely woven wool inner 
lining, that is made especially for the purpose, 
and use it only in the sleeves and upper part of 
the coat. Canvas should be used only in the 
fronts of the coat and around the armholes, as 
described in an early chapter. The wrinkle un- 
der the back of the collar is caused by improper 

lOI 



THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORING 

shoulder fitting, probably (in a coat that has a 
seam in the center of the back it might be caused 
by the seam being too curved — that is, not as 
nearly straight as it should be), and if you will 
only pin the shoulder seams of your next coat 
on the outside, so that they can be changed eas- 
ily when fitting, you will undoubtedly be able, 
with a little experimenting, to ascertain the 

cause of the trouble. 

* * * 

Will you kindly tell me if velvet requires an inter- 
lining for skirt as well as for coat, and what kind of 
interlining should be used? Is there a particular way 
to work on velvet? 

The velvet, a sample of which you en- 
close, should make a very smart Winter costume 
if built on simple lines. A drop skirt of soft silk 
should be worn, but the velvet skirt must not be 
lined solidly like a coat. In cutting velvet, re- 
member there is an up and down to it, and that 
if you do not cut all your pieces on the same 
grain of the goods, your gown, when finished, 
will shade in such a way as to appear not to be 
all cut from the same piece of velvet. I refer 
you to the Editor's article on this subject on page 
21 in the January (1910) UArt de la Mode, 

which you will find very helpful. 

* * * 

Will you kindly tell me what makes a sleeve pull on 
the back seam from the elbow up? It seems too short, 

102 



QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY MR. WATKINS 

and how can it be lengthened? This is one thing that 
has baffled me. 

The sleeve draws because it is too short 
from the elbow to the armhole. If you have 
this sort of difficulty you should fit a cambric 




sleeve first. This cambric sleeve may be cut 
as indicated in the accompanying sketch, and if 
you are fitting the right arm have the customer 
put the right hand on the left shoulder; and 
while the arm is in this position allow the parts 
of the sleeve to separate as much as necessary, 
then pin the upper and lower portions together 
as indicated in sketch. 

103 



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